Lay My Burden Down - by Alvin F Poussaint & Amy Alexander (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Through stories (including their own), interviews, and analysis of the most recent data available, Dr. Alvin Poussaint and journalist Amy Alexander offer a groundbreaking look at 'posttraumatic slavery syndrome, ' the unique physical and emotional perils for black people that are the legacy of slavery and persistent racism. They examine the historical, cultural, and social factors that make many blacks reluctant to seek health care, and cite ways that everyone from the layperson to the health care provider can help.

Review Quotes

As a black woman thrashing with the new class divide and an intermittent but chronic depression that feels as old as rivers, I found [Lay My Burden Down] a relief, an assured voice in a wilderness [that] I felt I was essentially wandering alone. --Erin Aubry Kaplan, Salon

"A persuasive moral indictment of the mental-health establishment for not working harder to rid itself of prejudicial images of African-Americans within its own practices, and to address them in earnest in the larger society." --Matthew V. Johnson, The Christian Century

"A stunner of a book. . . . The positive message here is that these scourges can be prevented." --Leon Eisenberg, M.D., coauthor of Children in a Changing Health System

About the Author

Alvin F. Poussaint was a renowned scholar, psychiatrist, and consultant. He studied at Columbia University and Cornell University, and was at Harvard Medical School, where he served as the dean of students. He is the author and coauthor of many articles and publications including Raising Black Children and Lay My Burden Down: Suicide and the Mental Health Crisis Among African-Americans. He passed away in 2025.

Amy Alexander is an award-winning content producer. A 2008 Alfred Knobler Fellow at The Nation Institute, she has contributed to many prominent publications, including the Miami Herald, Boston Globe, Village Voice, Washington Post, and the Nation. She has also written for Salon.com and TheRoot.com, and was associate producer of NPR's Tell Me More, with Michel Martin. Her works include Lay My Burden Down, coauthored with Alvin Poussaint, MD, and Uncovering Race: A Black Journalist's Story of Reporting and Reinvention. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.